


Forest Training Camp (2)

by Catheeso



Series: BNHA AU [11]
Category: CJMind, 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: Forest Training Camp Arc, Gen, I enjoyed writing this a lot, Kali got kidnapped :D, Kamino’s next!!!, League of Villains, Muscular is a bitch, Season/Series 03, actually kinda proud of this ngl, shit goes down 2.0, shits fucked, so is Compress, three guesses why
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-17
Updated: 2020-10-17
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:48:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,323
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27059788
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Catheeso/pseuds/Catheeso
Summary: Villains are attacking the training camp! Who are they after?
Series: BNHA AU [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1883536





	1. Muscular

The red-haired villain laughed. “Pleased to meetcha, U.A. students! We’re the League of Villains Vanguard Action Squad! 

“How’d you find us?” Charlie gaped. Carter found himself frozen still. The League of Villains? Was...was _Shigaraki_ here?

“Should I go ahead and crush her pretty little skull? Should I?” Red-hair asked mockingly. “What do you guys think?”

“As if I’d let you-!” Tiger roared. 

“Wait, wait,” the lizard villain interrupted. “Don’t be hasty, Big Sis Mag! You too, Tiger, calm down. Holding power over someone’s life is everything! Or don’t you believe in following Stain’s tenets?”

“You’re one of Stain’s followers,” Amelia scowled.

“Yep! We sure are! We’re here to hold up his ideals when he can’t! Let me introduce myself, I’m Spinner.” The lizard villain pulled a sword from his back. It was a bunch of knives and swords strapped together to make a bigger weapon. “And I intend to make _his_ dreams come true.”

Carter took a step back as Tiger took a step forward.

“That’s all well and good, but that woman lying there, Pixie-Bob, lately she’s started to worry about getting married. Hoping to find some happiness as a woman in this world, and at this age, trying very hard. How dare you scar her face like that, and stand there yapping away like it’s nothing?”

Spinner’s face broke into a grin as he charged forwards. “So heroes really do dream of finding ordinary happiness in life?”

“Tiger!” Mandalay shouted. “I’ve broadcast the order! Ragdoll will make sure the other students are safe. It’s our job to hold them back! Get going, everyone! And remember, no fighting!”

Charlie nodded. The other three started to run off but Carter hesitated. He looked back at Mandalay. She didn’t know where Kouta was, did she? Otherwise, she would’ve sought him out or sent somebody to go fetch him. She didn’t know where his secret base was.

“C’mon, Carter!” Lily said. “We have to go!”

“Mandalay!” Carter called, ignoring his classmate. “I know where he is!”

Mandalay turned to him. Uncertainty flashed in her eyes before she finally nodded at him. She gave him the okay. 

“Go on without me,” he told Lily. Lily blinked but eventually nodded, catching up with the rest of his fleeing classmates. 

He took a deep breath and focused on the quirk training they had been doing. He needed to teleport to Kouta, it was the fastest way. His body glitched. He threw himself forward. 

Carter’s body collided with a smaller one as he tucked and rolled, holding the smaller boy close. A large crack was heard as something hit the mountain just where they were moments earlier. He felt his phone slide out of his pocket. 

Stones scraped at his arms and he winced. Kouta was already on his knees next to him as Carter pushed himself up. “Why’d you-?”

In front of Carter was a looming figure with short blonde hair and a mechanical eye. He wore a black cloak that covered most of his body. 

“Hm? Now _you_ , you were on the list,” the figure said. The man was tall with broad shoulders and a manic grin. Carter stood protectively in front of Kouta, who was sniffling behind him. Glancing over at his phone, he internally cursed. There was no way he was getting out of this one with a lucky text to the right person. His phone was smashed from the tumble. 

So he was here alone with no backup. Even Mandalay didn’t know where he was. Worst of all, there was a villain. A villain who seemed to have no qualms about killing two children. He also mentioned a list that Carter was on. What could that mean? 

“It’s- it’s gonna be okay, Kouta,” Carter said, his voice somehow steady. “I’m gonna save you.”

“You’re gonna save him?” the villain laughed. “A budding hero _would_ say that. Always spouting off about justice whenever you guys show up.”

“Y’know, I really don’t give a shit what you think, asshat,” Carter smiled. The villain laughed again as something started to form around his exposed arm. Carter watched cautiously. It almost looked like muscle? 

“Your name’s Carter, right? This is perfect. Shigaraki mentioned you, you’re high up on our kill list.” 

A name sprung in his head as Carter paled. Muscular, the villain that killed the Water Hose. Muscular took his cloak off as muscles bunched up on his arms. 

“I’m gonna torment you real bad. Now show me some blood.”

Carter shifted his stance and let the glitches build up. His body glitched as Muscular jumped up, his arm winded back. 

He threw his glitches at the villain with enough power to cause dust to cloud his vision. Only a split second later an arm came into view.

Carter was slammed into the side of the cliff with a _crack_. 

His first thought was _ow_. His second thought was _oh fuck_. His whole body twitched painfully. Muscular moved to hit him again but paused.

“Ah! Wait, better not. That’s right. Might as well tell me if you know.” Muscular leaned over Carter. “Where’s the kid named Kali? We’ve got a job to do here.”

Carter’s eyes widened. They were after Kali? Why? Before Muscular could hit him again, he teleported away. He tumbled, holding his hurt arm close to him. 

“You don’t know? That’s your final answer?” Muscular asked.

“Even if I knew, I wouldn’t tell you,” Carter spat.

“Fine, in that case, let’s play!” Muscular suddenly kicked him in the stomach. How’d he get in front of Carter so fast? 

His back smacked against the cliffside. His breaths rattled as he laid on the ground, trying to figure out what to do. It was weird to be bleeding and his glitches to not be the reason. 

Muscular cackled. “Blood! Love it. So fun! What was that, again? You’re gonna save him, right?! So why’re you running?! That’s a weird way to save someone!”

Carter groaned, trying to push himself up. He wasn’t going to win this by using his glitches offensively. He needed to get Kouta and _get out_. His best bet was playing defensively, just like Stain. He just needed to get to Kouta. 

He teleported behind Muscular and reached towards Kouta. Kouta sat frozen. A hand wrapped around his waist and smacked him backward. He tumbled, his skin scraping against the ground.

“Is that supposed to be your quirk?! It’s fast, I’ll give you that, but it’s weak! My quirk’s a muscle enhancer. These muscle fibers of mine can’t be contained even by my own skin. They raise the standard in speed! And power! Get what I’m saying? You might be able to glitch around, but I’m faster!”

He needed to get up. Carter had to save Kouta. He just needed his body to work with him. His coughs shook his whole body. 

“You understand where I’m coming from?! I can’t help but laugh! You’re gonna save him?! Talk is cheap when you’re yapping about the impossible! You really oughta be honest with yourself!”

Muscular raised his arm. Before he could bring it down, a tiny rock hit the back of his head. Carter leaned over and saw Kouta standing up, still crying. 

“Water Hose, my mom and dad, did you torture them like this when you killed them?”

Kouta shouldn’t have said. Kouta really shouldn’t have said that. Muscular turned away from Carter and looked at the boy like he had just appeared and hadn’t been there the whole time. 

“Whoa, seriously? You’re their kid? This must be fate or something.” Muscular started to walk over to Kouta. “Water Hose. They’re the pair that gave me this glass eye.”

“Because of you and those like you, things always end up like this!” Kouta shouted, the tears starting up again. 

“Brats like you sure know how to pass the blame,” Muscular huffed. “It’s no good. I don’t really hold a grudge against ‘em about my eye. I killed ‘em, just like I wanted to. And they tried to stop me. We all did our best and had to deal with the results. What’s bad is when you can’t put your money where your mouth is.” 

Muscular leaned over Kouta. “LIKE YOUR DEAR MOMMY AND DADDY!”

Carter gritted his teeth and glitched right at Muscular. His arms were bulging muscles by now, bigger than the rest of his body, but his legs were the same as before. He dove for Muscular’s legs. 

“Aha! I knew you’d attack me, you worthless piece of trash!” Muscular whipped around. Carter didn’t have the chance to try and correct his mistake before a muscled leg slammed into his stomach and sent him backward. 

He landed on his back, breathless and more than a little dizzy. He had to teleport to Kouta. So, he did what he did best. He played weak.

It wasn’t hard to let the tears fall. They had been building up for a while, but the adrenaline of the battle had kept them at bay. Now, he let them fall freely. His chest ached with the sobs. 

“You’re crying?” Muscular sounded amused. “Already? But we’re not done yet.”

“I don’t think I can win,” he admitted quietly. Because he knew it was true. He wasn’t winning this fight. At least, he wasn’t winning it _fair_.

“You’re just as weak as Shigaraki said!” Muscular laughed. “He told us about you, you know? He said how weak you were, how easy you were to manipulate. Those scars on your neck are a thank-you gift from him.”

Sobs built up in his chest, crushing the warmth. The thorn bush dug into his skin, tight and suffocating. His scars hurt with a renewed ache. He- he hated Shigaraki. He didn’t hurt a lot of people, but he hated Shigaraki. 

But Muscular gave him one thing he didn’t have earlier. Carter was now _angry_. He wouldn’t let Kouta have the same scars he had. He wouldn’t let this bastard hurt Kouta. 

Muscular walked towards him until he was standing right next to him. Muscular kicked him surprisingly lightly. “C’mon, get up. This isn’t fun when you don’t fight.”

Carter closed his eyes, his face screwed up with pain. He gathered up the warmth and let it build-up like normal, but kept it hidden underneath the surface. He needed Muscular to think that he had given up.

“You talked big for someone who’s giving up so easily. You expect to be a hero when you’re about to let some kid die because you’re a little hurt? Don’t make me laugh,” Muscular said. 

Carter opened his eyes and smirked. Muscular blinked before his eye widened. 

Carter glitched over to Kouta and quickly scooped him up. Muscular roared in anger behind him. He teleported down the mountain before the villain could hit the place he was just standing. As expected, he gave chase. 

Kouta was sobbing in his shirt as he played a high-stakes game of tag with Muscular. He kept teleporting further down the mountain, the villain jumping down to try and meet him, always a little too slow. 

Mist sat heavily down at the ground level of the forest. It wasn’t there before. Carter took an educated guess and decided that the mist must be another villain’s quirk. He had no clue what it did, but it must hurt or paralyze or something. If he could lure Muscular...

He shifted Kouta onto his back and teleported onto one of the trees, panting. Muscular jumped after him, his body now covered in the muscle. Only his head was the same. 

Then, Muscular made a mistake. He landed on the lower level of the mountain too harshly as he tried to slow to a stop. He must know the mist is dangerous. But, the mountain couldn’t bear the sudden weight and crumbled beneath him. 

Muscular let out a shout as he tried to correct himself, but it was too late. Carter watched as he tried to stand up, but inhaled the mist. The villain faltered, the muscles around him retracting. He then slumped forwards, asleep.

Muscular was defeated. Carter won.


	2. Moonfish

The mist thinned out just as Carter felt himself start to stumble on his teleports. His body wasn’t unstable, but he did feel oddly exhausted like he hadn’t slept in days. He could feel blood run down his body from the times he was slammed into the cliffside. Kouta sniffled on his back and Carter sucked in a breath. He could pass out when this was all over. 

“You saved me.” Kouta’s voice was quiet. “Why? I yelled at you.”

“You did,” Carter said. “But heroes don’t leave somebody just because they were rude. If they do, they’re not a true hero. Heroes save people.”

Kouta buried his face into Carter’s shoulder. Carter let him. 

A flash of something caught his eye. Carter hid behind a bush until he saw who it was. Aizawa!

“Sensei!” Carter shouted, his voice cracking. Aizawa stopped and ran over to him. Kouta carefully slid off his back. 

“Carter?” Aizawa asked. “What happened?”

“Villain. Don’t worry, he’s been taken care of,” Carter replied.

“Somehow that doesn’t make me feel better. You’re injured.”

“Just a little bit.” Carter waved him off. “Listen, I have to tell Mandalay something really important. It’s about the villains.” He went to teleport but his quirk didn’t come to him. He turned back to Aizawa.

“Tell her this: pro hero Eraserhead authorizes everyone in classes A and B to fight back. And, Carter? Be careful. Come back when you’re done.”

Carter nodded. Aizawa’s hair fell flat as his quirk returned. He glitched to Mandalay. 

He ducked and rolled, looking up in time to see Spinner (he’s pretty sure that was the lizard guy’s name) swing at Mandalay. He gathered glitches in his hand and blasted Spinner back. 

Spinner let out a strangled shout of surprise, falling back as his sword was kicked out of his hand. 

“Mandalay!” Carter called. “Kouta’s safe!”

Mandalay blinked at him in surprise as he skidded to a stop next to her. After all, he must be covered in blood and look like he went through Hell and back. Which, he kinda felt like he did. 

“I also have a message from Aizawa. You need to use your telepathy to tell all the students that pro hero Eraserhead authorizes classes A and B to fight back!”

“Thanks for the message!” Mandalay said, kicking Spinner over the head. “But you need to get back to camp! Those injuries look nasty!”

Carter panted as he made a split-second decision. “No...there’s something else you need to know. One of the villain’s targets is Kali Herrera!”

He ran towards the forest, carefully avoiding the two fights going on. Magne, he was pretty sure, noticed him and started to give chase. Unlike Muscular, this was bad. 

“Yeah, this kid. We really ought to kill him.”

Carter fought the urge to groan. Not this again. He glitched out of the way before Magne could use their quirk or do whatever they wanted to do. He tripped over a tree root, his eyelids starting to drag. Shaking his head, he continued to run. He couldn’t stop, not now. 

_One of the villains’ targets have been identified!_ Mandalay’s telepathic voice rang in his head. _Kali Herrera needs to avoid battle! Don’t make any moves alone! Everyone get that?! Kali!_

Carter sprinted through the forest, feeling the ground beneath him. It was deathly still in the forest. So different from earlier. Smoke drifted through the air, but there wasn’t any of the weird sleeping mist from earlier. A gunshot rang in the distance, but he couldn’t tell where.

His heart was pounding as his mind raced. What could the League want with Kali? Did they want to kill her? She hadn’t done anything to piss them off. She really hadn’t done anything noteworthy. Not that she was an unimpressive person, but she hadn’t done anything that was newsworthy. So why would the League be after her? 

A muffled noise caught his attention. He switched trails and towards it. If they were a villain, he would just glitch away. If they were a classmate, well, he doesn’t really know. He doesn’t have a lot of energy left to teleport with, which is why he wasn’t just teleporting to Kali and teleporting her back to camp, but if there's more of them it's more likely they’ll find her in time.

He burst through the undergrowth and let out a sigh of relief. Kacey and Ava stood there, looking slightly out of breath but otherwise unharmed. Ava had a noticeable limp. 

“Carter?” Kacey asked. “What are you doing here?”

“I was the one who gave the message to Mandalay,” Carter explained. “I’m looking for Kali. Are you two alright?”

“We’re fine. Ava sprained her ankle, though,” Kacey said. 

“Can you teleport us out of here?” Ava asked, wincing as she put weight on her ankle.

Carter shook his head. “I-I don’t think so. If I can, I wanna save it for when I find Kali. I was in a fight earlier.”

“We can tell,” Kacey grimaced, looking him up and down. They shifted Ava closer to them. “We saw Kali and Destiny earlier before the villains attacked. They were deeper in the forest.”

“You guys can go back to the camp if you want,” Carter said.

“No,” Ava replied. She pushed herself off Kacey. “I can walk. Let’s go find Kali and Destiny.”

Carter and Kacey shared an uncertain look before setting off deeper into the forest. Kacey stood close to Ava just in case she stumbled. They only had to walk for a little bit before ice came into view. 

“There!” Kacey pointed at the big sheet of ice that snapped up to a figure in black with long white...things...coming from their face. “I see ice. They must be fighting!” 

The figure turned to face them and Carter almost stopped. The white things were not only coming from his mouth, but they were the figure’s teeth. Gross. All three of them picked up speed, running towards Kali and Destiny. Destiny had another kid slung over her shoulder and was shivering from using her quirk so much. 

“Flesh...” the villain rasped. His teeth shot out towards them. Carter took initiative and blocked them with a throw of some glitches. 

“Scatter!” He shouted. Destiny caught his eye and nodded, crouching down and throwing up an ice wall to block them from view. All five promptly threw themselves into the forest, hidden from sight.

“I hope you have some sort of plan,” Kali hissed quietly as the ice wall shattered, the villain looking for them. “I already tried corroding his teeth. Didn’t work out. He wouldn’t sit still.”

Carter fought the urge to mother hen them over their injuries. Kali had a deep cut just below her left shoulder and a shallow cut on her thigh while Destiny had a variety of shallow cuts, but no deep ones. 

“Did you get Mandalay’s message?” he asked instead. 

“They’re after Kali, we know,” Destiny nodded.

“Who’s that on your back?” Kacey questioned. 

“Tsuburaba. He’s from class B.”

Carter heard them talk more in a hushed tone, but he was too busy watching the villain who was looking wildly for them, muttering something about how he would love to eat their flesh. 

“I think I might have something,” he said. All eyes turned to him. 

“He’s obviously goal-oriented. He seems to focus only on what’s in front of him, ignoring his surroundings.”

“When I went out of view, he would forget I even existed,” Destiny said helpfully. 

“Exactly! So, here’s the plan...”

* * *

Ava quickly transformed into a bird. A peregrine falcon, which she said was the fastest animal she could turn into. While everybody else kept in the bushes, she flew out, taunting the villain.

His head snapped towards her. “A disguise? Foolish.”

With that, his teeth extended sharply. Ava ducked and weaved through the extended teeth, getting nicked a couple times but never actually hurt. 

Destiny crouched down next to him and exhaled silently. She put both of her hands on the ground and closed her eyes. Ava saw their hint when Kacey carefully waved their hand. She suddenly veered upwards into the sky. 

Ice snapped out, encasing the villain and his teeth. He hadn’t expected it. He let out a muffled noise of protest, trying to break free. Kali quickly ran up and grabbed the ice-covered teeth, corroding them into nothing but a pile of goo, before she slapped her hands over the villain’s mouth. He screamed as his teeth and mouth corroded. 

Finally, Kacey went over and smacked him over the head. The ice shattered and he fell over. Ava landed next to them, shifting back into her human form.

Destiny and Carter stood up, with Tsuburaba still draped over Destiny’s shoulders, and walked over. 

“Nice,” Ava said, breathless. Her arms were littered with tiny cuts from when she was a bird, but nothing hit her too bad. 

“Not that I mind the help, but what were you guys doing here?” Destiny asked. “It isn’t exactly safe here.”

“Yeah, and Carter looks like he got into a fight with a garbage truck and lost,” Kali added. 

He scowled, “We came to save you, dumbass. I was already in the forest so I said why not, be grateful I saved you.”

“We need to get back to camp,” Ava interrupted. Kali and Destiny turned to him. 

“Sorry, I’ve got no juice left,” he said. “We’ll have to walk.”

“Our priority is escorting Kali back to camp,” Kacey said, taking charge. “We should cut through the clearing-“

“Nope, that’s where Mandalay and Tiger are. They’re fighting villains. We’ll have to go through the forest,” Carter cut in. “Our best bet is to go through the forest and avoid trails since that’s where the villains will most likely be waiting for us.”

The rest nodded. Carter helped support Ava while Destiny switched Tsuburaba over to Kacey. Kali glanced at the knocked-out villain before putting her gloves back on. Destiny hovered next to him, rolling her eyes when he said he didn’t need any help. 

They just needed to make it through this forest. 


	3. Compress

A fight reached their ears as they came across a straight trail. They were going to steer away from it before they heard someone who sounded awfully like Lara shout “Bre!”. 

They all looked at each other and nodded, despite the very high chance that it might be a trap. 

Lara was pinned to a tree by her sweater while Bre was pinning somebody else to the ground, a strange syringe in her exposed thigh. The person Bre was pinning was covered in goo and had blonde hair tied into two loose buns. 

She swiftly threw Bre off of her, using her skirt to brush off the goo stuck to her. She seemed to be about their age. 

“Oh, darn. There are too many now, and I don’t feel like dying. Bye-bye,” she said, sounding oddly apathetic. Her eye caught Carter’s and she blushed? for a moment before disappearing. Bre made a move to follow her but was stopped by Lara.

“Wait, we still don’t know what her quirk was.”

“Who was that girl?” Carter asked. 

“A villain,” Bre replied. “She was nuts. You okay, CJ?”

“About as okay as I can be. Anyway, I’m assuming you got Mandalay’s message. We’re escorting Kali back to camp.” Carter jerked a thumb behind him. 

Bre peered behind him with a frown. “Where’s Kali?”

“Right behind us-“ Carter stopped short as he saw an empty space where Kali and Destiny were. They were gone? What?! “Kali?!”

“Looking for _her_?” a new voice asked mockingly. They all whipped around to find a man in a mask holding two marbles. He looked like an elaborate magician, complete with a top-hat and cane. “I’ve taken her. With my magic. She’s not a resource that belongs on the heroes’ side. We’re going to put her on a stage where she can really shine.”

“Wha- give her back, asshole!” Bre shouted. 

“Give her back? What an odd thing to say. Herrera doesn’t _belong_ to anyone. She’s her own person, you egotist!”

“Move!” Lara yelled, stepping forwards. Carter obediently slid out of the way as wind shot to the tree and the tree branch the magician was standing on. He quickly jumped off before the wind could blast him off.

“We’re just a bit fanatical when it comes to values,” he said like he was completely in the right. It made Carter’s blood boil. “All we wish is to show her that there are other ways. Because you kids today, you have your values chosen for you.”

“Destiny’s gone too!” Carter snarled. “Where did you take them?!” 

“There was no need to confront us. You’re mocking us, aren’t you?” Lara accused. Lara was right. Destiny and Kali were at the back of the group, he could’ve just taken them and left.

“Sorry for my bad habit, I’m an entertainer at heart,” the magician apologized, not sounding sorry at all and holding up two marbles. _There_. “Taking Mendez was just a bit of ad-libbing. Moonfish, old blade-tooth. Even a natural-born homicidal maniac like him, whose death row appeal was shot down, was handily taken down thanks to this one girl. So, I decided to take her, too! Plus, she was in first place in the Sports Festival this year, if I remember correctly.”

Another blast of wind made the magician leap up, Lara standing there, panting. Carter grimaced, remembering the fight with Stain. 

“Sorry, but deception and running away are actually my only specialties!” the villain said. How the fuck was he so agile? He had a long-ass trench coat to drag around! “I can’t go toe-to-toe with heroes in training.”

He raised a hand to his ear. “Vanguard Action Squad! The target has been successfully captured! Short though it was, our mission has come to an end! As planned, be at the evacuation point within five minutes of this transmission!”

They had earpieces the entire time? Not only that, they only came to kidnap Kali? “That’s it?” Carter breathed. It didn’t sound real. All of that, all of that pain, just to distract and take one student. 

“Not gonna happen!” Lara growled. “You’re not getting away!” 

The magician continued to leap over the air Lara sent his way until he disappeared from view. They chased after him, slowed down by injuries. 

“How is he so fast?” Kacey asked in disbelief. 

“We can’t give up!” Carter choked out, fighting dizziness. “We have to catch up. We can’t let them just get away!” 

“None of us are fast, CJ,” Bre pointed out. “And you said you can’t teleport. We won’t be able to catch up!”

“So we’re just going to leave Kali and Destiny? We’re going to let them get kidnapped?” Carter snapped. “No- no. Grab onto me, I’m not giving up.”

“You’re gonna hurt yourself!” Ava protested. 

“Just fucking grab me!”

“I’ll stay back with Tsuburaba,” Bre offered. Carter nodded.

Hands rested on his arms and shoulders and he fought the urge to squirm away. He just needed to breathe. He felt drowsy, sure, but if he could just reach past that...

There! The warmth felt a lot smaller than normal but it was still there. He grabbed onto it and pulled, just like with the fight with Muscular. The warmth tried to yank back but he focused on it. He focused on the magician. He focused on Kali and Destiny.

His classmates. His friends. Both of them were his best friend. He wasn’t leaving them. 

Static rang as they glitched right on top of the villains. Carter angled himself and slammed the magician down, pinning him to the ground. His friends glitched next to him. 

There was the girl from before, but also another guy with bizarre skin and a guy wearing a grey and black skin-tight suit. 

“I know those brats! Who’re they?!” the suit man said. 

“Mister. Dodge.” The stapled guy raised an arm. The magician (Mister?) pushed Carter off and darted to the side. Blue fire hit all of them, throwing them back. 

Carter yelped and tumbled to the ground. He heard one of the villains speak, then the tell-tale _woosh_ of Lara’s air. Before he could recover, one of the girl’s suction tubes flew past him, grazing his arm. 

“Hi, Carter! I’m Toga!” she said cheerfully as she leaped onto him, pinning him down. “I was thinking before how you’d look a whole lot cooler covered in blood! Turns out I was right!” 

“No thanks,” Carter groaned just as Kacey smacked her off. They helped him up as he saw Mister get up, too.

“Ouch. To think they’d chase us!”

“You got Herrera?” Scars asked. 

“Naturally.” 

Mister put his hand in one of his coat pockets, only to come up empty.

“Time to run!” Ava shouted. “ _That_ , just now, now I’m certain! I’m not quite sure what your quirk is, but from the way you were showing off before, I know that _these_ things from your right pocket are Kali and Destiny. Right, _entertainer_?”

Ava held out a fist that no doubt contained the two marbles Mister had in his pockets only moments earlier. She probably snagged them before Mister got up. 

“Ho ho!” Mister clapped. “Well done, indeed! So quickly, too! There’s no finer pickpocket than when you can transform, I suppose!”

“Great, we’re done here,” Kacey scowled.

“You fool!” Scars snarled. Mister held out an arm to stop him. 

“No. Wait.”

Carter and the others made a move to run. He froze when he saw something that looked awfully a lot like a Nomu come out from the undergrowth at the same time Kurogiri appeared in front of them. 

“It’s been five minutes since the signal. Let’s be off, Dabi,” Mister said. 

“Sorry, Carter. Catch you later,” Toga beamed as she walked into one of Kurogiri’s portals. 

“Hang on, the target’s still-“ Dabi was cut off by Mister taking off his top hat and mask.

“Yes. As you appear so pleased with yourselves as to want to cut and run, let me give you a little reward. It’s a bad habit of mine. One of the tenets of magic states that flaunting a particular object...”

Mister opened his mouth to reveal two marbles on his tongue. 

“...is inevitably part of the trick.”

The marbles in Ava’s hand burst, revealing two leaves inside. Mister put his mask back on. Carter pretended not to notice Ava slip behind him. She must have something in mind. 

“I must admit, none of you could help me make good decoys, but the trees surrounding us helped. I put them in my right pocket, for later. Upon noticing the objects in my right hand enter my right pocket, you would naturally be excited enough to give chase.”

“I wouldn’t call it excited,” Lara spat.

“And this is where I leave you-“

Before he could fully make it through the portal with Dabi, a bird swooped down right into his mask. The mask shattered at the impact, making him open his mouth in shock. The two marbles fell out. 

Lara dove for Destiny’s, successfully grabbing it before Mister could. Carter dove for Kali’s. 

A hand swiped it and Carter fell flat on his face. He looked up and saw Dabi holding hit with a smirk.

“How sad for you,” he said. He turned to address Mister. “It’s her. Go ahead and release her.”

Kali popped into existence and Carter pushed himself up. He reached out as Kali was pulled backward. Her hand brushed his.

“Carter,” she whispered.

The portal closed.

Carter stared blankly at the spot Kali had _just been_. His first friend. The first person to be nice to him after years of torment. His best friend.

He screamed.


End file.
